Free Camp Confidential 09 - Best (Boy)friend Ever by Melissa J. Morgan Page B

underneath. Then she jerked upright. “Wait. You got your period? It’s your first one, right? Are you okay?”
    Priya wished Valerie would just hand over the pad so Priya could run into the bathroom. Why did other girls always want to talk about stuff so much?
    “Are you getting food? Because if you are, you have to share,” Brynn said softly from the other bed as Val leaned back down and started rooting through the suitcase.
    “I wasn’t. But—” She pulled a big bag of M&Ms out from a side pocket and tossed them to Priya. “If you’re like me, you’re jonesing for chocolate right now.”
    “I so am,” Priya answered. “Is that a thing? I mean, is that something that happens to you when you get it?”
    “I love chocolate always,” Valerie said. “But there are times when it is vital for my survival.”
    Priya ate a handful of the candy. Maybe the talking wasn’t so bad if it came with M&Ms.
    “Hey, I’m the one who asked for food,” Brynn complained.
    “Priya has priority. She got her period, so it’s like a medical thing,” Valerie answered.
    “Should we try to find you a heating pad or something?” Brynn asked. “Maybe at the front desk?” She blinked. “Hey, wait. Didn’t you say you never? During the game?”
    “First time,” Priya admitted.
    “I read this cool thing. In Uganda when a girl gets her first period, she stays home from school, and her mom and aunts hang with her and fill her in on everything she needs to know,” Valerie said. She pulled a little cloth pouch out of her suitcase and gave it to Priya. “Then later her girlfriends come over and party, and they sing this beautiful song about menstruation.”
    “I’ll sing you a beautiful song about menstruation if you give me some of those M&Ms,” Brynn offered. Priya popped another handful, then passed the bag. Then she hurried over to the rollaway and grabbed pajamas and clean underpants out of her suitcase.
    “Be right back,” she whispered, then locked herself into the bathroom.
    A moment later there was a soft knock on the door. “It’s Alex. I’m leaving some Midol from Val outside the door. It’s good if you have cramps. Have you got them?”
    Priya realized she did. She’d thought her tight achy stomach was from dealing with all the Jordan craziness.
    “A little. Sorry I woke you up,” Priya told her.
    “I’m having some of my sugar-free Reese’s I stashed away, so I’m not complaining,” Alex answered.
    “I’m leaving you the rest of the M&Ms.” It was Brynn. “Well, the rest after this handful.” She cleared her throat. Then she started to sing softly. Yes, sing. “ Priya, you’re now a woman/ And that’s sayin’ somethin’/ You get free chocolate/ And that’s saying a lot . . . ”
    Priya started to giggle, her whole body shaking so hard she had trouble sticking the wingie things of the pad to her underpants.
    “Why is everyone up?” she heard Sophie ask.
    “We’re celebrating Priya, the way they do in Uganda,” Brynn answered. “ She’s menstruating, so we’re celebrating ,” she added in song.
    “You okay in there, Priya?” Sophie was right outside the door now.
    “Yeah,” Priya answered.
    The truth was, she was more than okay. She was good. Thanks to her roomies.
    Her girlfriends.
    How had she gotten along without girlfriends—real ones—before this summer? Boys were great. But boys would have been useless in this situation. Boys wouldn’t have known she needed chocolate. Boys definitely wouldn’t have been able to give her pads. And they wouldn’t have made her laugh by singing to her about menstruating. They probably wouldn’t even say the word ‘menstruating.’
    Sometimes you really just needed your girls around you.

    Priya and Alex staggered off one of the National Air and Space Museum’s flight simulators. It still felt kind of weird walking with a pad in her underwear. But at least she didn’t have to waddle the way she had when she’d had all those